Sorting tables



March 27, R. N. M IVER SORTING TABLES Filed March 21, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ROBERT N. Mc IVER d SrtfllBS Patent SORTTNG'iTABLES Robert N. McIver, Richmond,'Va.

Application March 21, 1952, .Serial No. 277,840

1' Claim. (Cl. 211-40) The present invention relates, generally to sortingtables, and more particularly to sortingtables having-an arrangement of receptacles, and areceptacle-.construction, which contribute to particularly rapid manual sorting of thin flexible sheets.

It is a broad object of my invention ,to provide a novel sorting table havingalargenumber ofreceptacles.

It is a further object of my invention .to .provide a sorting table having sorting receptacles arranged in arcs of circles.

It is another object of the invention-to provide a sorting table having .two substantially --parallel rows of receptacles, a forward row and arearward -.row, and in which the receptacles of the rearward row are tilted to have their rearwardrencls at a higher level than their forward ends.

A further object of my .inventionresides .in the .provision of receptacles in a.sort ing table.forflexiblezsheets, each receptacle having at least one side wall possessing a sharp bend adjacent the floor of the receptacle, in order to cause the sheets to assume automatically an advantageous attitude in thereceptacles.

It is still a further object of my invention to provide a sorting table having asmall operating platform located symmetrically with. respect to .a plurality of sorting receptacles, the receptacles'being arranged on arcs of circles about theplatformand disposed conveniently to an operato'rs position, while the platform is located immediately at the operating position.

The above and still --further features, objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following :detailed description of a specific embodiment thereof, especially h n taken in conjunction with 'the accompanying *drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a view in front elevation of a sorting table in accordance with my invention;

Figure 2 is a view in plan of the sorting machine of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view in side elevation of the sorting table of Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4--4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a view in perspective of a receptacle wall, in accordance with one embodiment of my invention;

Figure 6 is a view in perspective of a modification of the arrangement of Figure 5; and

Figure 7 is a view in perspective of a partition used in the vertical compartmentation of Figures 1 and 2.

Proceeding now more specifically with the drawings, the reference numeral 1 identifies generally a sorting table having legs 2, a main sorting structure 3, and a vertical compartmentation 4.

The main sorting structure 3 constitutes the heart of the present invention, and comprises a central platform 5 in the form of a small fiat area, suflicient to provide a rest for one hand of a human operator, and for a considerable stack of flexible sheets, such as conven tional sales tickets, to be sorted.

have equal access to all the compartments, in virtue ,of

swinging motion of the arm of the operator.

Behind the forward compartments .6 is a furtherplu- .rality of rearward compartmentsllL'formed of bottom walls 12, .side walls 13 and forwardwalls-consisting of the rear walls 10 of the forward compartments .6. The rearward compartments 11 are open at their rearward ends, and are arranged on the same are as .the forward compartments 6. The bottom walls 12 are, however, tilted with respect to the horizontal, with-the rearward edges above the forward edges, to facilitate access to the rearward compartments.

Behind the rearward openings in the rearward cornpartments 11 is provided access space 14, so that .the fingers of the operator may readily abstract from any one of rearward compartments 11 the sheets sorted therein.

Extending above and behind the rearward compart ments 11 is the vertical.compartmentation 4, comprising a large number of pigeon holes, for storing sorted sheets. in general, the number and character .of vthe pigeon holes represents a matter of choice. -I prefer, however, 'to provide a 'horizontalrow of smallpigeonholes, 15, at a lower level, and a group of six larger pigeonholes, 16, at one or more'higher levels.

I have shown twenty-six compartments in themain sorting structure 3, and twenty-six small pigeonholes, 15. "It will be realized immediately that this corresponds with the number of letters in the alphabet. This number is'not ofxprime importanceand more orfewer pigeonholes and compartments'than tWenty-sixmay be "employed. It further is not essential, although it .is

desirable, to utilize the samenurnber of compartments and pigeonholes.

In respect to the structure of the individual romangle about' /s of the the angle 'ma'king an angle of about 30 with the vertical. At the same time the precise location of the break and the precise angle made are not of primary importance, but regard must be had to the function of the structure.

The device of my invention is intended for rapid and efiicient sorting of flexible, thin paper sheets, such as sales slips. It has become a serious problem in large department stores to sort out sales slips, in order that credit book, sales credits, and other information may be derived therefrom. A large department store credit posting department may have to handle as many as 20,000 slips per day. As the slips. come in, or at the end of a day, they must be sorted by name of customer, arranged in order, and the necessary information then transferred to books.

In accordance with my conception the sales slips for a given period would be sorted in stages. First sorting would be by first letter of the customers last name. Once this sorting had been finished, and corresponding stacks of sales slips derived, the next step might be to sort out certain common names, such as Smith from the S stack, Jones from the J stack, and the like, and to perform some sorting of each stack in terms V of second letters of last names.

walls of the compartments becomes evident.

tickets on the platform 5. The operator detaches the slips in succession from the stack with one hand, and with the other hand places it in a proper compartment. The rearward compartments 11 being tilted and the forward ones 6 being level, and both rows of compartments being arranged on the arc of a circle, all

the compartments are very readily available to the operator, who need merely convey a sales slip over a compartment, and drop same.

At this point the function of the bends in the side As each thin, highly flexiblesheet is dropped into its compartment, its lower edge strikes the bend and the sheet bends accordingly, so that the lower edge of the sheet goes toward the corner of the compartment opposite the bend. Thereby, all the sheets in'each compartment,

without particular attention on the part of the operator, all lie alike in the compartments. This simplifies the sorting problem radically, since the operator is not required to stack or arrange the slips in; any one of the compartments, and can pay full attention to sorting until any given compartment is reasonably full.

At the time when a compartment is full its con tents may be removed rapidly, since full access to the front of the forward compartments and to the rear of the rearward compartments is available, and since the stacks in the compartments are well ordered. A stack removed from a compartment can be stored in an appropriate pigeonhole, until needed for re-sorting.

The precise structure of the walls of compartments 6, 11, or of the pigeonholes is a matter of design, primarily. In Figure I have illustrated a compartment Wall St: made of wood, and provided with a bend in the form of a wood block 8' of triangular cross-section. In Figure 6, on the other hand, I show a bent metal wall, formed of a single sheet of thin metal, such as aluminum or steel, and bent as at 8".

In Figure 7, on the other hand, is shown a wall 20 suitable for pigeonholes, and having a cut-away 21 to enable the slips stored in the pigeonhole readily to be abstracted therefrom.

The matter of assembling the components of the device of my invention may readily be left to the artisan, bearing in mind that the several walls and parts of the device may be fabricated of steel, aluminum, wood, or the like, or combinations of these, and that the several parts may be joined in accordance with techniques suitable for the material employed.

While I have illustrated and described a specific and preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be clear that variations in general arrangement and in detail may be resorted to without departing from the true spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claim.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A sorting table having a central platform at an operators station, a first plurality of forward compartments arranged in an arc and extending from adjacent one side of said central platform to the right thereof, a second plurality of forward compartments arranged in an arc and extending from adjacent the other side of said central platform to the left thereof, the front of said sorting station lying in the same are as the front of said forward compartments, a plurality of rearward compartments positioned behind said forward compartments and said central platform and arranged in an arc, all of said arcs having substantially the same radius of curvature, all of said compartments being open at the top and each comprising a bottom wall, two gen erally vertical side walls and a vertical end wall, a side wall of each of the compartments adjacent said central platform being substantially parallel to said side of said platform, the end walls of said forward and said rearwardcompartrnents being common to oneof each of said forward and rearward compartments, said rearward compartments each being tilted from the horizontal between ten and thirty degrees with the rearward ends being at a higher level than the forward ends, a corresponding one of the side walls of each of said compartments provided with a portion extending inwardly of said compartment from a point 'between ten and forty per cent upwards from the bottom wall of the compartment and making an angle of between twenty and sixty degrees with respect to said one of the side walls.

References Cited in the fileof this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 285,556 Bender Sept. 25, 1883 808,318 Thomas et al. Dec. 26,-1905 853,215 Berg May 14, 1907 2,262,575 Cons et'al Nov. 11, 1941 2,584,039 Mufi Jan. 29, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 262,425 Germany Feb. 12, 1913 

